PA Boycott in Jerusalem, Too

The Palestinian Authority plans to extend a boycott of goods created in Israeli regions of Judea and Samaria to include goods made in the Jewish neighborhoods of northern, southern, and eastern Jerusalem. The boycott will now include many areas that have been annexed to Israel and are under full Israeli sovereignty.

The PA's “Governor of Jerusalem” Adnan el-Husseini held a conference Sunday to which he invited the representatives of several PA branches and other Arab groups in Jerusalem. The conference focused on the boycott, according to the PA-based Ma'an news.

Husseini, whose office is a largely symbolic one, declared that his goal is to “clean the markets of east Jerusalem from settlement products.” The boycott campaign is “very important,” he said.

The PA demands control of all Jerusalem neighborhoods that were under Jordanian control for 19 years beginning in 1948, including many neighborhoods that are historically Jewish. It also demands that Israel relinquish control of all territory in Judea and Samaria east of the 1949 armistice line.

The PA announced several months ago that it would prohibit the sale of Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria in PA-controlled cities. PA officials have since demolished many tons of produce and other products grown or created by Jews in Judea and Samaria, or by Arabs working in Israeli areas. Senior PA officials such as Salam Fayyad have played an active role in the destruction.

Israeli leaders have denounced the boycott as violating previous Israel-PA agreements. Some leaders in both Israel and the PA have warned that the boycott is likely to backfire, as PA Arabs who are no longer premitted to work for Israeli employers will be left jobless, creating a serious drain on the PA economy.